The Sea Ray 270 Sundeck rumbles away from the dock on Pickel Island and heads down the French Broad River. Flipping up the thigh bolster from the sports bucket seat and standing up gives the driver a much-needed better view. Recent rains have caused a minefield of wooden debris to appear on the surface of the languid river, ranging in size from chopsticks to telephone poles. Undeterred, the driver advances the throttle, and the 375-hp MerCruiser 496 MAG engine responds instantly as the boat jumps on plane in three seconds and settles into a 30-mph cruise speed.

Like a halfback looking for the hole, the boat darts from side to side, avoiding the snags. Obviously a tricked-out performance boat, right? Nope, it's Sea Ray's big, new deck boat, the 270 Sundeck.

It's apparent Sea Ray designers missed the meeting when it was decided that deck boats should look like floating claw-footed bathtubs, because the 270 looks anything but clunky. Its aggressive pro-file and sculpted curved contours illustrate the benefits of using Computer Aided Design (CAD). Designers at Sea Ray can now bring to fruition boat designs that only a few years ago would have been too complex to build. Of course, building a boat with a compli-cated design, merely because you can, is just plain showing off. But when properly harnessed, this advanced technology allows builders to try out all sorts of unusual hull designs and find out if they work, before committing to the costly process of rendering them in fiberglass. In effect, the evolution of boat design is being fast-forwarded. This technology pays dividends not only in better performance, but also with improved interior ergonomics. Instead of placing items like cupholders and grabrails only where there's available room, now you can put them where you want.

After making a sweeping left hander, the Holston River, once called the 'Hogoheegee' by Native Americans, appears up on the right. At this point these two semi-navigable (and fairly obscure) rivers join forces to become the mighty Tennessee River. Dropping the 270 Sundeck off plane, the first order of business is to crank up some tunes on the six-speaker Clarion CD player. The sounds of Brooks and Dunn provide a little traveling music as the Sea Ray passes under the Gay Street Bridge in downtown Knoxville, and cruises past the Star of Knoxville, a 325-passenger paddlewheeler that evokes a bygone era.

It's a balmy day, and the river adventurers are getting a bit parched, so a trip to the refreshment center for some cold beverages is required. Conveniently, there's a 36-quart Igloo cooler in a cabinet just behind the helm seat that slides out on a tray for easy use. A bag of ice and an armful of sodas just happen to fit nicely in the split sink above, which has a sliding cover to help keep things cool when not in use. For safety, you'll also find a stainless-steel grabrail to protect the second most important person onboard: the bartender. With a drink in hand, it's time to explore the seating for the scenic downtown tour.

Without a doubt, one of the most comfortable places to relax is the bow. The twin 'Freudian couches' are ergo-nomic marvels for those who need a good recline. The wide backrests are perfectly angled, and the padding is firm, yet comfortable. Your inboard hand falls right to the cupholder for perfect no-look refreshing, and the outboard appen-dage will gravitate toward the grab-rail, simply because it's comfortable. A few miles past downtown is Sequoia Hills, a luxurious neighborhood on the river where Knoxville's 'old money' resides. After getting an eyeful of how the other one-hundredth of one percent lives, it's time to air out the Sundeck. Flipping the Corsa exhaust system selector to the 'Van Halen' through-hull setting, which comes standard when ordering the 496 MAG engine option, the throttle is hammered and the 270 accelerates to its top speed of 50.4 mph ' not bad for a plush ride like the Sundeck. The river finally lines up in the direction of the brisk wind, and the Sea Ray doesn't seem to notice the chop, with its deep-V hull with a 21-degree deadrise featuring a vented chine design. Crossing over some large wakes helps to confirm that the words 'seaworthy' and 'deck boat' are not mutually exclusive.